Perfect in their eyes
by Alis-volat-propriis97
Summary: After the pack hurt her emotionally, Bella decides that it's time for her to stop depending on other people for her happyness. Deciding to stay away from the people that had hurt her, Bella leave. When she returns, she is still determined to keep the promise she had made to herself. Too bad two wolves won't let her stay away from them since she is their only reason to live.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! :-)**

 **This is my first Twilight fanfic and I hope you'll like it.**

 **First of all, I want to apologise for any grammar mistakes. English is not my first language.**

 **Second, I love the Emily, but if she'll appear in the story, she will not be Sam's** **imprintee.**

 **Let me know what you think, since I'm very insicure.**

 **Bella will be different than the one in the books or movies, but I hope you'll like her anyway.**

 **This story is rated M for future mature content. The Twilight characters and world are the intellectual and creative property of Stephenie Meyer, I'm just playing with them.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1**

The drive towards La Push had never felt longer. Bella passed the trees she had memorized in her mind during the past months, letting them guide her towards her destination. The only thing in her mind was Jake.

Jake. Her best friend. The only person that could make her smile after Edward had left her, breaking her heart in the process.

However, lately Jake had been ignoring her texts, her calls. Billy had told her that he was sick, but two weeks had passed and Bella needed to know why her closest friend was ignoring her. Had she done something wrong? Did he get tired of her?

She rehearsed the words that she had prepared to tell him for when she would have seen him. Because she had no intention to leave that place until she would have seen him. Would he have pushed her away? Or finally would have explained to her why he had been so distant towards her?

She felt anger build in her body when she realized one thing. Jake wouldn't have told her anything. He was part of that gang now. Anger grow at the thought of those arrogant, giant men.

However, once the red house appeared before her eyes, her anger dissipated into sadness.

She switched off her pickup, without caring about where she was parking, and quickly reached the front door.

The rain was pounding, but she did not care. She only had one thought in her mind.

She knocked on the door few times, before Billy finally opened.

"Bella" he exclaimed surprised, after all, he had been the one to tell her to stay away from Jake.

"I need to see him."

"He's not here." Billy tried to explain to her, but from the way he glanced at the direction of Jake's room, she knew he was lying.

"Billy, I love you like a second father, so I hope you will forgive me for this."

Bella pushed Billy away and stormed into Jake's room, ignoring Billy's shouts from behind her.

She opened the door, but stopped at the sight in front of her. Jake was sleeping with face on the pillow on a bed too small for his size. His now short hair were messy and he had his mouth opened. If she had not been angry, his snoring would have made her found him adorable.

However, those thoughts dissolved in a flash when she saw from the window over the bed four men approach the house. She immediately realized who they were. Their lack of shirt had given them away rather quickly. Before she could think about it, she was already walking out the house, ready to exchange few words with them.

"You" she called out at the man in the centre, moving to stand right in front of him. He looked shocked for a second, before he composed himself into his usual stoic face.

"Bella" he replied, "What are you doing here? I thought Jacob had told you not to come here."

Bella fumed at his words. "First of all, despite what you all believe, this is still state propriety. I don't need anyone permission if I want to come here. Second, he only said that because you made him."

"And why would we made him?" Sam asked, slightly amused at the feisty woman in front of him.

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me, since he won't talk to me?"

"Maybe he just doesn't want to be your friend anymore." The boy at Sam's right replied smugly.

"Was I talking to you? Back off." Bella yelled at him and the boy that she recognised as Embry chuckled.

However, the Quileute boy glared at her, taking few steps towards her.

"What did you just said, Leech lover?" the boy snarled. His body close to hers so she was facing his naked chest. In another circumstance, she would have blushed, but in that moment she didn't care about his state of half nudity. His words had took her by surprise. Why had he called her that way?

"Paul," Sam said warningly. "I can handle this by myself. Do not make things worse."

"No, she needs to understand that she is not wanted here." Paul stepped forwards and Bella raised her head to glare at him, but she still could not see his face properly due to the high difference.

Bella, however, did not let that stop her. Her anger was stronger than her judgment, so she slapped him right across his arrogant face.

She obviously didn't hurt him, however she had caught him by surprise and he did not like that at all.

"I don't care who you think you are, but don't ever talk to me that way again. I'm here to talk to Jake. I don't give a crap about your opinion. So, like I've said, back off."

Bella took few step back to glare at him right into his eyes, but when she looked up, his eyes were closed and he was shaking terribly. Was he having a leisure?

The other boys surrounded him with worried face.

"Paul, calm down. Bella, walk away." Sam ordered without even glancing at her way. His focus was on the shaking boy in front of her.

Before she could told him to not tell her what to do, Paul exploded and at his place stood a silver wolf.

"Bella, run!"

She did not need to be told twice and she turned her back, running towards the red house.

However, in that moment Jake appeared and started running towards her. Worried for her friend's safety, she yelled at him to walk back into the house, but as soon as those words left her mouth, Jacob had jumped and turned into a brown wolf in mid-air.

Bella stopped in her track and watched what used to be her friend attack the silver wolf. The two started fighting and biting each other. Bella was too lost watching the scene to notice Embry and another boy grab her arm and lead her into Jake's house.

.

"Wait, we have to stop them." She managed to say once she saw the door open and Billy with a sad smile beside it.

"Relax, Bella." Embry tried to assure her. "Sam will stop them if things get too out of control."

"But they could get hurt." She whispered and the boys laughed.

"Don't worry about that, Bella. We heal fast" the other boy explained before offering his hand. "I'm Jared, by the way."

Bella shake it weakly.

"We?" she asked when her brain started functioning again.

"Us shapeshifter." Embry explained, taking a sit at the table, where Billy had put some food, probably some left over.

"You all can turn into a wolf?" Bella asked. The boys simply nodded since their mouth was full of food.

"And you heal faster?" she asked again, earning another nod.

"But.. how?"

Noticing her confusion and shock, Embry intervened in her help. "We phase into giant wolf to kill vampire. It's our life purpose."

"You know about vampires?"

At her question, the boys and Billy laughed aloud.

"Yes, Bella, we know all about them." Billy told her, offering her a seat. She took it, afraid that her legs would have fallen out at any moment.

Few minutes later, the door opened and Sam walked in following by two laughing Jacob and Paul.

Bella had her eyes firm on her friend. It looked like he did not have a scratch so she breathed in relief. When the boy noticed her, he smiled softly at her.

"Want to go for a walk?" he asked and she simply stood up and followed him.

* * *

The two talked for a while. Jacob told her everything. From the day he had first phase, to when Sam had ordered him to stay away from her for her safety. At first Bella had been angry, but when he explained to her that newly wolves were famous for losing control quickly, she had relaxed. He was back now and that was all that mattered to her.

Jacob had also told her that they had been the ones to kill Lauren, the vampire that had tried to kill her the other day.

"So you were those wolves?" she asked and he smiled in reply. "Thank you, for saving my life."

Jacob just shrugged, but she could see that his eyes were full of pride.

"It's what we do. We kill vampires." At his confession, her mind flashed briefly to the Cullen's, one in particular.

Jacob must have realized where her thoughts had gone, because he stopped walking.

"You don't have to worry about them. We have a treaty with them. As long as they don't cross our land or don't kill anyone, they can live here."

Bella nodded and sat on one of the rocks that where at the beach.

"Earlier, you said that you have been having problem with a vampire, how is that?" she asked curiously, reminding that he had previously talk of a vampire that had escaped them few times.

"Yes, there is this vampire chick. She keeps coming here, as if there is something that she wants. We have cornered her few times, but every time we are sure that we have her, she manages to run away from us. It's frustrating."

Something in his statement caught her attention and made her shiver.

"How is she like?" she whispered, hoping that her thoughts were wrong and she was only being paranoid.

"She has red hair."

"Victoria" she said in a voice so low that even Jacob had trouble to catch the name, but he did.

"Of course you know her." He stated bitterly.

Bella stood up and started looking everywhere but him. "No, no. This is not happening." She started rambling and Jacob quickly put his arms around her thin frame to make her look at him.

"Bella, what's wrong? Do you know her?"

"I know what she wants." When she finally raised her head, he saw tears coming down her face. "She wants me. Edward killed her mate and now she wants to make things even by killing me, since she thinks I'm his mate."

She quickly explained and Jacob had to call all of his self-control to not phase. That thing wanted to kill his Bella, the girl that he had loved for his entire life, and he was not going to let that happen.

"We need to tell the others about this." Bella nodded absently and he took her hand, guiding her towards his house.

.

Everyone was still there, while all the food had been devoured. When Bella and Jacob walked in, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at them.

For half an hour, Bella explained to them who was Victoria and the story behind the reason she wanted to kill her. Billy, Sam and the boys listened carefully with the exception of Paul, who ignored her, intervening only to make some comments that would have pissed her off if she hadn't been so scared.

Once she was done, Sam and Billy started talking about needing to call a meeting with the elders to inform them of the new developing, while Jacob was hugging a very scared Bella.

.

After few minutes, Bella told Jacob that she had to use the bathroom and he released her from his tight hug.

"So? What is the plan?" Jacob asked his alpha once he heard the bathroom's door being locked.

"We need to talk to the elders before we can make a plan. This situation complicates everything." Sam explained.

"What are you talking about? This makes everything easier. If the red hair wants the girl, let's use her as a bait to lurk her out." Paul stated and Sam had to put an arm on Jacob's shoulder to stop him from attacking the boy.

"We're not using Bella as a bait." Sam said slowly, his tone ended the discussion.

"Why not? The leech lover could be useful for once, since she is the one who started this mess in first place."

Jacob growled minacious at Paul.

"This is not her fault."

Paul simply raised an eyebrow at him, clearly daring him to repeat it again if he actually believed it. Jacob was going to apply, when Bella walked back into the room.

Jacob noticed that she looked slightly better and when she smiled weakly at him, he felt his heart melt.

"I have to go now. Charlie is probably wondering where I am." She explained and Jacob took few steps toward her, offering her to walk her to her car. She said goodbye to everyone and the others said it back, except Sam who was texting someone and Paul who simply ignored her.

"Will you come back tomorrow?" Jake asked hopefully.

Bella smiled brightly at him and hugged him tightly. "I would love to." She replied into his ear.

Reluctantly Jacob released her and opened the door of her pick up to help her get in.

"See you tomorrow." They both said at the same time, before laughing.

Saying goodbye once more, Bella took off and started driving towards her house. This time, she enjoyed the ride and even turned on the radio to listen to some music. Despite the news about Victoria, she felt happy. She finally had her friend back and nothing would have ruined their friendship again.

* * *

Bella's happiness didn't last long.

Few days later Quill had joined the pack and everyone had been happy about it, especially Jake and Embry, since they had their friend back. When she wasn't at school or at work, she was with them and she was feeling better than she had felt in months. During that period, she rarely thought about Edward and when she did, it was not in a positive way. She had realized how stupid she had been to fall in love with a vampire in first place.

Things started getting worse, when Harry Clearwater died and Seth and, surprisingly, Leah phased for the first time, joining the pack. Harry's death had made their hatred towards Victoria grew and so did their efforts to destroy her. Unfortunately, despite the growing in number, she still managed to escape them each time.

Bella was starting to get more worried each passing day. She constantly had the feeling of being watched and that caused her nightmares to come back in full force. This time, however, they were about a red haired vampire, that sometimes would have killed her and other times would have killed her dad or Jake. Those were the worst nights. Knowing that she could partially be responsible for the death of the people that she cared about was making her drool in guilt.

But that wasn't the worst. In the last few weeks, the pack behaviour towards her had started to change. Since Victoria wasn't there they had focus their frustration on her. If at first they defended her against Paul's insults, with time they stopped defending her, only to join recently Paul's "let's make the leech lover's life a hell" club. When it was just him, she could easily ignore his degrading comments, but now with everyone on his side, even if they weren't as directed as he was, she couldn't ignore any longer the glares sent in her way after a failing hunt, or the snide comments said when Jacob was distracted.

Bella was at her limit, between Victoria and the pack's cruelty she was slowly falling into depression again, but she had to pretend that everything was fine because she didn't want to worry her dad or Jake. It was for her best friend that she sucked it up and pretended that their words were not touching her. They were Jake's family and deep down she knew that he would have sided with them and she would have been left alone.

* * *

However, one day, after another one of Paul's insults she couldn't take it anymore and stormed out of Jake's house.

She could hear them laugh from inside the house, probably making fun of her. She recognised Paul, Leah and Jared's voice. They were the worst between all of them.

In that moment, while trying to fight back the tears, Bella decided that she was done. She was done with them and she was done with being the weak, pathetic girl everyone thought she was.

It was time for a change. It was time for her to change.

"Bella, wait." Jacob run after her, reaching her quickly thanks to his long legs.

"Paul didn't mean that."

Bella laughed at that, but Jacob could see that there was a lot of pain behind that laugh.

"Yes, he did. But don't worry Jacob. I'm not angry. Paul has been mean to me from before I even knew his name. I'm used to it, now."

"Then what is the problem? Why are you leaving?" He got closer to her and she was glad that it was raining so he couldn't see her tears.

"The problem is that I'm tired, Jake."

"Tired of what? Of them? I could make them stop." Jake replied and Bella cracked a smile at his protectiveness.

"It's not about them." She simply stated.

"Then what is this all about?" Jake asked. He needed to know what was making his best friend cry, because he could see the tears on her chin even despite the rain.

"I'm tired of constantly being scared!" she yelled, not caring about the supernatural people in the house that could hear everything. Jake's eyes widened at her outburst.

"I'm scared when I open my eyes in the morning and I'm scared when I close them before going to sleep. The rare time I actually sleep, since I don't even remember the last time I've slept without having a nightmare.

I know you don't like me, I'm the leech lover after all, but I was 17 when I met Edward and he had been the first guy to ever show me interest. And he was beautiful. I know it was stupid to fell for him knowing what he was, but I did. I fell in love with him. It took me months to realize finally how stupid I have been to fall in love with a vampire, how pathetic I've been and still am.

I know you all blame me for what is happening, hell, even I had blamed myself for a long time, but now I have had enough.

I did not chose to be bitten and tortured by a vampire only to have his mate making her immortal life goal to kill me, since she thinks it would be the best way to make it even with my vampire ex-boyfriend. The same vampire who put me in danger in first place and then left me in the woods the day after my birthday.

I never choose any of this and I know that you, Sam, and the others didn't choose either to turn into wolves, but you have strength, fast healing and other amazing stuff. Most of all you have each other. What have I? I'm alone and defenceless against monsters who thinks my blood is the best dessert that they could ever have.

So no, Jacob. I'm not angry, I'm tired and scared and I don't need you all to constantly remind me of the mistake I've made while I was seventeen."

"Bella." Jacob whispered, walking closer to hug her. He didn't know what to say. He had no idea that she felt that way, she always had looked normal around him. Had he really been that blind not to notice what was happing to his best friend?

Jacobs's heart broke when Bella took few steps back to avoid his hug. She had never refused a hug before.

"No, Jacob. You said it yourselves that killing vampire is your life purpose so you're not doing this for me. Paul was right, I don't belong here. I'm an outsider, and I think I always will be." Bella smiled in defeat at the boy in front of her who looked almost as broken as she was after her confession.

"Let me know if you kill Victoria, but in the meantime I'll do everyone's a favour and stay away, like you had asked me to do some time ago."

"Bella, you know I never wanted you to stay away. I was just trying to protect you."

"I've heard those words before." Bella said with a dark chuckle and Jacob paralyzed, knowing whom she was referring to.

"Be careful out there." Bella whispered.

Giving him one last sad smile, she turned around and walked to her pick up. Jacob couldn't do anything but watch her leave in her truck while the rain pounded away the tears on his own face.

* * *

"Jake."

Quil tried to call for his attention for the hundredth time since he had come back into the house. He had been sitting on the couch without saying a word, staring absently in front of him for more than twenty minutes and they were starting to get worried.

Bella's words were plaguing his mind. Not even during her period of depression she had looked so lost, so broken and he was one of the reason behind it. He had let his friends hurt her and couldn't even blame them, because he should have noticed it.

Damn, they all shared their mind while they were in wolf form, how could he have not seen the way they felt about her?

"Jacob." Embry joined Quil in their attempt to shake him away from his thoughts.

Surprisingly, Paul hadn't said anything about what they had heard Bella say out there. Thinking of Paul, Jacob started getting angry.

"Get out." He whispered, knowing that they could perfectly hear him.

"Jake."

"Get out!" Jacob shouted, standing up and glaring at every single one of them.

In that moment, Sam and Seth opened the door. They had just finished their shift and had no idea of what had happened.

Seeing Jacob shaking, Sam immediately intervened.

"Jacob calm down." He ordered, using his alpha voice.

"Make them leave." Jacob managed to say in his attempt to control his anger.

Sam quickly ordered everyone out and made them phase so he could know what was going on. It was not every day that Jacob loses control. Something must have happened and Sam was sure that the pale girl was in the middle of it, since he could smell her scent, but could not see her.

Entering their minds, he saw Paul taunting Bella making her run away. Then he heard everything that she had said and for some weird reason, he felt his heart ache, hearing the girl's pain.

" _I'm very disappointed in you._ " Sam told them. He could see that they were feeling guilty about the way they had acted, even Paul, but he was truly disappointed at them.

" _You have acted no better than those things we hunt._ "

Knowing than that statement would have made them think about their actions for a while, he phased back. Surprisingly, the first to leave the scene had been Paul. The boy was feeling like a shit and Sam thought that he deserved feeling that way. Since he had phased he had acted as if he could do anything he wanted and that was wrong. Maybe now Paul and the others could understand that they were not superior than anyone else.

Bella had just given them a humility lesson. He felt sorry for the girl, he too had never given a second thought about how difficult that situation must be for her.

.

"Jacob."

His beta was sitting on the couch, with his head in his hands. Sam put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Give her few days, she'll be back." He tried to reassure him.

"No, I don't think she will." Jake replied before standing up and walking away.

He had barely walked out the door when Sam saw him phase into his wolf and running away.

Sighing, Sam sat at the edge of the couch. Bella's words rang into his head. Sam knew that Jacob was right. Bella wouldn't have come back after the way they had treated her and for the second time that day, his chest ached.

In the exact same moment Sam had put a hand on his heart, from afar, a wolf howled in pain.

* * *

 **Please review. I want to know what you think about this first chapter.** :-)

 **IMPORTANT: I'm looking for a Beta, if you are interested, contact me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone.**

 **I have a beta now,** arienna89. **Thanks for the Amazing work!**

 **Thank you for all the nice reviews.**

 **I hope you like this new chapter. :-)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2**

Two weeks had passed and no one had seen or heard from Bella. Jake had lost count of how many times he called her without receiving an answer. Apparently, the tables had turned and now Bella was the one ignoring him. Jake felt as if a part of him had been ripped out. Was that how she had felt when he had stopped talking to her? Had she suffered as much as he was suffering?

A few times Jacob had passed by her house, but she wasn't there. He knew that she was okay. That the red headed leech hadn't managed to get her dirty hands on his best friend, but that didn't stop him from being worried. It was as if she was gone.

Even the others were starting to get worried. They had never realised how much her presence affected them. Despite what she believed, she had a positive aura around her that could make them feel calmer. Too bad they had noticed it too late.

Everyone could see that Jacob was feeling like shit. Despite what Bella thought, he needed her in his life and the others were starting to realise that he was not the only one.

They were currently sitting in Jacob's living room, with the exception of Embry and Leah who were out on patrol. Jacob was looking at the television, but it was clear that his mind was not on what he was watching.

Sam could see the depressed look on his beta's face, but what worried him the most was that he too was being affected by the girl's absence. Every time he entered into a house and greeted his pack, his eyes automatically searched around for the tiny girl with pale skin and long brown hair. As soon as he realised that she was not there, he felt an ache in his chest. The wolf too wasn't happy.

Another thing that didn't only worry them, but also shocked them, was Paul's weird behaviour. The boy had stopped being a little dick since the night Bella had confessed how much his words had hurt her. They all had saw into his mind and knew how much guilty he felt, however, only Sam knew why he was feeling such way.

Sam was the only one who knew about Paul past, about his father becoming verbally abusive. So he could understand why the boy was being so depressed about the whole situation. The way he had acted towards Bella was the same his father had acted towards him and the moment Paul had realised that, his world had crumbled down. However, deep down, Sam knew that Paul deserved feeling that way.

"You sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Billy said when he walked into the house followed by Chief Swan.

"Bella should be back in few hours so I want to spend some time with her."

At the mention of Bella's name, everyone's attention shifted to the two men, especially Jacob who had almost jumped from his spot to run towards the Chief.

"Jake, boys." Charlie greeted them once he took notice of their presence. As if they could be ignored, with their huge frame and demanding presence. Charlie noticed that the boy looked like shit.

"Bella left?" he asked in a low, pained voice.

"She left a couple of weeks ago, I thought she had told you."

Jacob's heart broke at the news. She had left the town and he didn't knew. He had swore to always be there for her and he didn't realise that she was not there at all. He was the worst protector ever.

To interrupt the awkward silence, Charlie's phone rang and the man read the text message, a big smile forming on his face.

"Bella is home. I'll see you next week." Charlie said goodbye to Billy and the boys and then he practically ran to his car to go see his beloved daughter.

He might not be the kind of man who showed affection, but everyone in town knew how much he loved his little girl.

* * *

Jacob watched him get in the car and, before the engine could turn on, he had already phased and was running towards the Swan's house.

When he reached the house, he phased back and quickly wore a pair of cut offs that he had hidden near a tree outside Bella's window in case of emergencies.

He knocked on the door, not caring that he was shirtless, barefoot and completely covered in rain and mud. The only thing on his mind was the girl that he had loved since he was a child.

He heard someone tripping on the stairs and smiled knowing that it was Bella. Some things would have never changed.

When she opened the door, the sight of her took his breath away. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Never taking his eyes away from her, as if she would disappear again, he slowly approached her.

It took him only a couple of steps, before he had enveloped her in a big hug.

"You're back." He whispered in her ear, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin against him.

When she didn't return he hug, Jacob released her and looked at her face only to see her giving him a forced smile. He had seen her send that smile to everyone who had asked her how she was after her break up with the leech, the one he knew she used to hide the pain.

"I went to visit my mom for few days. Who knows, between my clumsiness and Victoria I might won't have another chance again." She joked, trying not to show him how much his presence was hurting her. She had decided to stay away and move on, but that was hard to do when one of the people she wanted to ignore the most was standing in her porch with a pained expression.

"Don't say things like that. You're not going to die. I won't let Red put her hands on you." Jacob assured her, not liking at all her line of thoughts.

"Jake, it's been a while since I had actually lived." Bella confessed before looking at the ground in discomfort. She took few steps back and he immediately missed her warm.

"Bella.."

"Why did you come?" she asked before he could finish his sentence. Why was he there? Hadn't he listened to what she said that night?

"There is a bonfire tonight. I thought you might have wanted to come. The others miss you." He didn't know why he had said that. In reality there was no bonfire, but he would have organised one in a flash, if she agreed to come.

"Yeah, sure." She chuckled, clearly not believing him when he had said that the others had missed her. Her bitter smile quickly faded to be replaced by a firm expression.

"I meant what I said the last time. I'm done being your pity project."

Jacob stared at her confused. "What are you talking about? You have never been a pity project to us."

"Yes, I was. Everyone made that clear along with the fact that I was not wanted."

Saying that hurt her more than she had imagined. She knew that what she had said was true, but admitting it aloud to her former best friend, hurt her nevertheless. Trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall at any moment, she took a step back and forced a smile, hoping to make it look like a real one.

"Look, Jacob, I'm happy to see you. But I'm tired so I would like if you left. Say hi to the others for me."

Before he could reply or stop her, she had closed the door on his face. He stood there without moving until he heard Charlie's car approach. He quickly shifted and disappeared into the woods before anyone could see him. That day he had felt his first heartbreak.

* * *

After slamming the door shut, Bella had run towards her room where she had collapsed on her bed, finally letting tears fall freely.

She knew it would have been hard, but she had never imagined that she would have suffered that much. The pain of seeing Jacob again had been worse than what she had felt after Edward had dumped her. She never thought that could be possible. That only showed her how much she depended on people.

However, this time, it had been her choice. She had chosen to keep her distance from them and she knew that it was the right decision.

When a few tendrils of hair fell in her face, she unconsciously pushed them away. A chuckle escaped her mouth at the realisation that Jacob hadn't even noticed that she had cut her hair. What an observant friend he was.

Cleaning her face of any remaining tears, she fixed her clothes and walked downstairs to help Charlie with dinner. Or better, she cooked while Charlie put the table.

He still hadn't noticed her, his back to her and Bella had the opportunity to actually look at him. He had been an amazing father, he had tried to help her the best he could and she knew that, deep down, her decision to visit her mom had hurt him more than he was willing to admit. He probably had thought that she was leaving for good. She had thought about moving back to her moms, but she couldn't leave Charlie. He didn't deserve that. Besides, thinking of him alone in that big house while eating prepared food every day, would have made her feel guilty for the rest of her life.

Walking to where he was standing, near the table, she put her arm around his frame and hugged him from behind.

"Bella." He whispered surprised, yet she could hear the happiness hidden in her name. Happy that she had returned to him. It broke her heart knowing that he had doubted her return.

"I love you daddy."

She said in a soft voice, with her face against his back. She didn't even remember the last time she had called him that, but the way his eyes were sparkling in happiness when he had turned around to face her, she was going to start calling him that way more often.

"I love you too, darling." He pulled her into his arms and the two finally shared a proper hug after so many years of brief, uncomfortable, quick contact.

Before she could realise it, tears were coming down her face.

"Bella? Bella? What's wrong. You're leaving aren't you?" he asked worried.

Her heart broke for the second time that day.

"I'm sorry." Seeing confusion in his eyes, she continued. "I'm sorry for being a terrible daughter. For months I ignored you and made you worry."

He hugged her again. "Bella, it's okay."

"No, it's not. I'm so sorry for being that selfish. I promise you it won't happen again, I will never go back to being that way and I will never leave you." She promised feeling his arms tighten around her tiny body.

"Oh, Bella. I know what Edward and Jake did to you, but I will never abandon you. You are the most important thing in my life."

They stood in each other arms for a while. They both needed that hug and the assurance that they always would have be there for each other.

When they separated, they both were blushing. Physical contact and openhearted confession weren't their thing, but Bella tried to eliminate the awkwardness by starting to cook.

That night they ate in silence and Bella even watched the baseball game with him, even if she did fall asleep after half an hour.

Charlie smiled at his sleepy daughter. With what strength he had left, he scooped her in his arms and took her to her room where he laid her on the bed. After tucking the covers around her, he kissed her forehead and left her to sleep.

Nothing felt better and more life completing than having his daughter by his side. Turning off the television, he walked to his own room and laid down. For the first time in months, Charlie fell asleep with a contented smile on his face.

* * *

"By the look on your face I imagine that things didn't go very well." Quil stated after Jacob literally kicked the door to enter the house. Always the show off. Quil thought, rolling his eyes.

"So? How did it go?" Jared asked. Jacob growled.

"She says hi to everyone, but she won't come tonight or any other night."

"I'm sorry Jake." Sam put his hand on Jacob shoulder, partly to calm him down and partly to reassure him that things would have been fine eventually.

"It's my fault." He murmured, but when he felt Sam's hand on his shoulder, anger took over and turned around to glare at his alpha. "No. It's your fault!"

"Jacob." Sam growled in warning not liking the way his beta was raising the voice at him. He might be the future alpha, but in that moment, Sam was still the one in charge.

"You knew how she bad she was. You knew the problem she has with abandonment, yet you ordered me to stay away from her." He shouted.

"You could have hurt her. Newly phased wolves are dangerous." Sam tried to reason with him before he could lose control.

"This doesn't justify the way I treated her. I was mean to her, we all were."

Everyone looked at the ground in embarrassment. Jacob was right. They had all acted like mean school girls, never realising how much they were hurting her, never noticing how hard things were for her.

"What has been done is done now. Stop blaming yourself and the others." The alpha said in a firm tone trying to pull his pack out of their funk.

"I can't stop thinking about what she said last time about being scared." Quil stated, while running his fingers into the hair of the sleeping little girl in his lap.

Everyone had been surprised when he had imprinted on a three years old kid. It had been hard to convince the others that he loved the kid in a brotherly way, but after days of constant pain, the elders had allowed him to spend some time with his little imprint. Which was a good thing since the little girl was the only one who could bring happiness to the pack.

Quil kept his hand in her hair, her presence always made him feel better.

"I know the feeling, man. We never really thought about what she was going through, having a crazy vampire trying to kill you must be horrible. Especially if you are a clumsy human. On the bright side we have discovered that Paul can feel guiltiness, or any other emotion."

Paul growled at him, but said nothing to deny Jared's statement.

"She'll come around Jake."

"No, she won't. You weren't there earlier. You didn't see the look in her eyes. The emptiness behind them. She said she was done being our pity case."

"That's ridiculous. I didn't befriend her because I felt pity for her. I like her, she's funny and a really nice person." Quil confessed.

"We just have to explain that to her."

Jacob snarled. "Good luck with that, she said she wouldn't be back here."

During the entire time, Sam watched them silently. His face was unreadable for the others, but Paul knew him and could see that something was bothering him. Few times he had seen him touch his chest as if he was in pain. The weird thing, however, was that he was feeling pain in his chest too. It was as if something was missing inside of him.

Sam listened to every word they were saying, trying to ignore the aching in his chest. He didn't know why, but it had been hurting since Jacob had said that Bella wasn't coming.

Sam remembered how he had found her in the woods the night the leech had left her. Unlike the others, he had never held it against her the fact that she had being with one of their mortal enemies. She might look mature, but she was only a girl. Everyone can make mistakes, especially when it comes to first love. He knew that too well. However, he should have done something when his betas had started being cruel to the girl. He had let them physiologically torture her and now one of his men was suffering. They all were.

.

"Maybe I know a way to make Bella come here."

Billy's voice caught them by surprise. For being in a wheelchair, he moved very silently, even with their supernatural senses.

"What do you mean dad?"

"Saturday is my birthday. We always invite a few friends for lunch. Charlie will come for sure and so will Bella."

"How can you be sure that Bella will come?"

Billy smiled "That girl is too kind to refuse."

Jacob nodded, understanding his logic. Bella was too kind for her own good. She would have come for Billy, even if she didn't want to.

"Sam?"

Sam looked at Jacob who was staring at him with hope in his eyes. The boy was asking his permission and Sam wasn't going to deny it.

"Sure, the girl is welcome to come."

Jacob smiled brightly and for a second Sam regretted what he was about to say.

"However," Jacob's smile faltered. "She is welcome to stay with us for as long as she desires, but you still could be dangerous to her. Especially now where a lot of emotions are involved."

"I would never harm her!"

"Not intentionally. For this reason, I want you and Bella to always stay near the others. This way if something happens, they can prevent the worst."

Jacob wasn't happy, but agreed nevertheless.

Sam stood up, announcing to the others that it was time to leave.

"Oh," he stopped in his tracks and turned to look in the eyes of each of the boys. "If I hear you say anything remotely mean to the girl, I will make sure that even with your fast healing, you won't be able to walk for days." He was looking straight at Paul.

Paul didn't have any snarky retorts. For the first time in his life, he felt guilt for something that he had done. Knowing that he had broken an already broken girl, made him feel as if he had kicked a beaten up puppy. He had called her a leech-lover, hated her for dating that thing, but she had been as much as a victim as any other person. He had treated like shit and now he was the one feeling like shit.

Paul left the room without saying anything and phased into his wolf. A run always calmed him down. Before he realised it, he was standing in the back yard of the Swan house. Bellas window was in view and for once he hated his supernatural hearing since he could hear her crying. The sound was subtle, but he could hear her soft sobs as if he was in the room with her.

His entire life he had enjoyed making other people cry, he was not a particularly nice person and everyone knew it, but this time it was different. His wolf was angry at him which, in turn, led him to be angry at himself.

There was only one thing he could do to try to fix the mess he had partially created. The only problem was that he had never done it before. He sent one last glance at the window and ran away. He had until Billy's birthday to think about what to say to apologise to a girl he was sure despised him.

He could laugh at the thought, Paul Lahote was going to apologise to a leech lover for being mean.

* * *

"Good morning dad." Bella greeted her old man when he walked into the kitchen where she was making pancakes.

"Pancakes?" he asked excitedly and she nodded with a big smile. She loved cooking for her dad and he loved the food she made.

"Billy has invited us over Saturday for lunch. It's his birthday and he wanted to celebrate it with few friends."

Bella almost lost the grip on the spatula in her hand. Luckily, her back was to Charlie so he couldn't see the panicked look on her face.

"Ah."

"I know something has happened between you and Jake. Did he push you away again?" Charlie asked worried. If the boy had hurt his daughter again, Billy's son or not, he would have shot him right in the balls. He wasn't going to let anyone else mess with his little girl.

"No. I was the one to create distance this time." Bella admitted honestly.

"But why?"

Bella put a few pancakes in front of him and sat down herself. Glancing up from her plate, she saw him looking at her, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"I just don't want to let a man be in control of my happiness. First there was Edward, then Jake, for once I want not to depend on someone else."

Charlie smiled softly at her.

"You can be independent and have friends at the same time."

"I know, dad, but for a while I want to be by myself." Seeing his panicked face, she added. "I won't fall into depression. I just want to take some time for myself and find out who I am instead of being what I think others want me to be." And the others wanted her to be a weak, broken girl.

Charlie didn't reply and finished his breakfast. However, when he stood up to leave for work, he walked around the table and kissed her forehead.

Bella looked at him surprised by his loving gesture. It was not like him to do something like that.

"I'm proud of you." He stated. "You have become an amazing woman."

Bella smiled, moved by his words.

"I'm proud to be your daughter. I'll make a pie for Billy's birthday."

With his heart full of pride and love, Charlie said goodbye to his daughter.

* * *

Apparently, if you don't have friends and you're not depressed, life can be pretty boring. Bella realised after only two days. After cleaning her entire house top to bottom she had nothing else to do, so she decided to go ask for her job back.

Mrs Newton welcomed her back with open arms. She had always been a kind woman. Bella was ready to beg if necessary, but as soon as she had entered the shop, Mrs Newton had smiled at her and nodded, already knowing why she was there. Bella would have started her shifts the following week, which would have been amazing for every student during spring break, but not for her, since she had no idea of what to do until Monday afternoon.

After doing the grocery shopping, Bella bought Billys present knowing that both the man and her dad would love it.

Noticing that it was lunch time, she returned home and made herself a sandwich. For the rest of the afternoon she fixed her wardrobe, adding all the new clothes her mother had bought her.

After putting on a crutch a brand new white dress, Bella smiled. She had never thought that one day she would have had so many dresses and skirts, but if she was honest with herself, she liked wearing them. Dresses were surprisingly comfortable and made her feel prettier.

Like her mother always said to her, "If you have to fall, at least look beautiful while you're doing it."

Smiling at the memory, Bella finished with her task and sat near the window to read one of the new books she had bought the previous day.

Bella was so lost in her book to notice it was getting dark or the black wolf that was watching her from the yard outside the window.

* * *

Sam watched the girl with fascination. He knew that it was not his turn to check the perimeter and he had to leave before Seth arrived for his patrol, but something inside him urged him to be there. The wolf had been restless for days, but in that moment it was at piece, as if he was right where he was supposed to be.

Sam didn't knew why his wolf wanted to be there, but he had learned long ago to never deny the wolfs desires.

He watched the girl for a while, she had her knees on her chest and a book between them. Her hair was tied, but few strands had escaped and were framing her face. However, what caught his attention, where her eyes.

Sam had never seen the girl look so at peace. It was as if nothing existed behind the book and the words in it.

He didn't know how long he stood there, watching her, nor why he was so fascinated with the girl, but his wolf was calm and happy and for some weird reason, so was he.

For this reason, when he sensed Seth's phasing, the sign that his turn to patrol had started, Sam almost growled.

He didn't want to leave, but he had to. He couldn't risk the others questioning him on what he was doing there since he didn't know the answer either.

He looked at the girl one more time, knowing that he would be seeing her again in only two days, and ran away before one of his beta could find him.

* * *

Unbeknownst to everyone, including the alpha, Sam was not the only wolf that passed by the Swan house that night, only to catch a glimpse of the young woman who lived in there.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all your very nice reviews, I'm so pleased you're enjoying this story.**

 **Here is the new chapter. Be ready, because from this chapter the fun will begin.**

 **Thank you arienna89 for helping me with this chapter.**

* * *

 **CHA** **PTER 3**

Saturday had arrived and Bella was a wreck of nerves. A few times, she had debated the idea of pretending to be sick, but that was something only a pathetic person would do and she didn't want to be pathetic. She wanted to be strong. She could spend a day with them. After all, she knew before coming back that she would have to face them again. She just didn't know how they were going to react once they were all face to face. Would they have ignored her or kept acting the same way they had done for the past weeks.

Luckily, Charlie had promised never to leave her side for too long, even if he had to spend the entire day stuck with only her to talk to. He was being extremely protective over her. Bella wouldn't have been surprised if he had brought a gun with him to the lunch.

That was one thing she had never understood, why the people in la Push couldn't just have a normal birthday party lasting only a couple of hours instead of having a long lunch that was going to force her to stay with the very last people she wanted to see.

She groaned annoyed when another lock of hair fell on her face. Of course, the only day she actually wanted to look pretty, even if she didn't know why, her hair had decided to be uncooperative. People thought that short hair is easier to control, but that was complete bullshit in Bella's case. Today, especially, her short hair was a complete mess.

Sighting after the last failed attempt to straight it, she gave up and passed on to the next critical subjects, what to wear.

If the Bella of two weeks prior was there, she would have laughed at her. However, the new Bella wanted to look good and not like a wreck for once in her life.

Edward had always made her feel not good enough, especially when it came to physical beauty. She wanted to prove to him and the others that she could look like a girl when she wanted to. During her stay in Florida, her mom had constantly tried to make her understand that she had a nice body and it was about time she showed it. Her mom's words not hers.

However, her mom was right. After eighteen years of dressing like a tomboy, she could start showing some skin.

Putting on what she thought was a cute, yet comfortable outfit, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had picked a black sweater drees with a form-fitting belt and over the knee boots. The belt accentuated her thin waist, without making her look anorexic, and made her bust appear curvier. The dress in short, enhance her curves without being vulgar.

Ignoring her mother's advice on make-up, she put on only a bit of mascara and a pink lip-gloss that she thought looked cute.

Checking the time, she notices that it was time to leave if they didn't want to be late, and she had no intention of being the last one to arrive.

Bella quickly put a grey cardigan on and run downstairs. She almost tripped on the stairs, but, luckily, her dad caught her before she could get hurt.

"I swear Bella, this is the fifth time that you almost fell down he stairs since you came to live here."

"The fifth time that you've seen me." She corrected him, smiling when he rolled his eyes.

"Lets go clumsy."

When they reached his car, Charlie finally took a look at his daughter. She looked different from usual. She actually looked like a girl. He was not sure that he liked it. He didn't want his daughter being ogled by boys. She had always been beautiful, but he preferred when he was one of the few to notice it.

"You look very pretty."

Bella blushed under his compliment, noticing that he had got red as well and quickly thanked him.

"New haircut, new clothes."

"New Bella." Charlie added.

She just smile at him. "Not new, just better."

Charlie was surprised yet proud at her new show of confidence. His daughter had become a woman, a very beautiful woman, with too short a dress for his liking.

Maybe she didn't need his assistance after all.

* * *

They heard her, before they saw her. The pack was already reunited. They were all sat in the living room, each of them pretending not to be waiting for the pale girl to arrive.

"Dad, just because you're the chief it doesn't mean that you can ignore the fast limits." She reprimanded her father.

"I can when nobody is looking."

"That's abuse of power!" Bella half yelled.

The werewolves laughed at the father-daughter bickering. Even Sam cracked a smile when he heard the indignation in the girls voice.

Jacob was already at the door when they knocked. Jacob opened it eagerly and his mouth fell at the sight in front of him.

Bella looked stunning. She had always been beautiful in his eyes, but now everyone could see it. Why couldn't he just imprint on her and spend the rest of life with the woman he had been in love with since he was six? Or not imprint at all and still be with her for the rest of his life.

Bella flushed and looked down under his stare. Jacob knew he was making her feel uncomfortable, but he just couldn't stop. She was there, in front of him and he felt like he hadn't seen her in years.

He only looked away when Charlie chuckled at his ridiculous expression.

"Close your mouth kid and let us in."

Jacob moved to the side to allow them access, lucky that his tanned skin was hiding his fuming cheeks. Being caught by the town Chief while ogling his daughter was not a pleasant experience. However, Embry and Seth were thinking it differently, since they were laughing aloud.

Once everyone had a look at Bella, they understood Jacobs reaction. They had never seen her in a dress or anything remotely feminine. There was a lot of skin showing and they were males after all.

Bella felt self-conscious under their scrutinising stares so she quickly walked towards Sue to hand her the two pies she had made for Billy.

Sue smiled kindly at her and took them to the kitchen, leaving Bella alone in the wolf lair.

Bella took a deep breath and turned around to face them. She sadly noticed that almost everyone was already there. Embry, Seth, Sam, Leah and Quil. The only ones missing were Paul and Jared who she was sure would have come once their patrol was over.

She avoided direct eye contact with anyone and looked around for Charlie, noticing with disappointment that he wasn't there. There went his promise to never leave her alone.

"You cut your hair."

Leah stated, being the first to break the silence. Their hair was now the same length, but while hers where straight, Bella's was messy, but in a good way.

"Yes, I cut it two weeks ago." Bella explained, trying to stay polite even if the only thing she wanted to do was to shout at them to stop looking at her as if they were in a zoo and she was the brand new attraction.

"I didn't know you had any dresses in your wardrobe." Jacob commented in a light tone. "Not that you don't look great, cause you do. You look beautiful." He quickly added and Bella swore she heard Quil coughing "pussy" at his friends. She probably heard correct since the others were trying, and failing, to hide their amused smiles.

Jacob glared at Quil and Bella took advantage of his distraction to ask were Billy was.

"He's out there with the adults. They are turning on the grill." Seth told her, looking excitedly at the thoughts of food.

Bella cracked a smile and turned to leave, but a warm hand stopped her.

She turned her head to the side and saw Jakes hand around her forearm.

"I'm happy that you're here. Can we talk later?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm here for Billy, nothing has changed." She stated, proud of herself for keeping a strong tone.

She hated seeing the pain in his eyes caused by her words, but, honestly, she was glad that she wasn't the only one suffering for once. They had made her suffer first, they had no right to make her feel guilty.

"I'll go greet Billy."

She freed her arm and disappeared under the packs eyes.

.

"Don't worry Jake, we have the entire day to make her change her mind." Quil tried to reassure him.

"It's not like she has a choice, we're her only friends." Leah joked, but the others didn't find her statement funny, especially Jake who glared at her before leaving the room.

"Really Leah?" Quil glared at her. "She left us because we've been cruel and you make fun of her lack of friends?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "She's manipulating you. She just wants to be at the centre of attention all the time. Trust me, ignore her and she will come back crawling like a little bitch.."

"Enough!" Sam shouted and Leah found herself unable to speak.

"You will not say another mean thing about that girl, am I clear?" Sam yelled and she nodded scared. Sam had never looked so angry. The look in his eyes actually made her believe that he could kill her if she didn't shut up.

"Good. Paul and Jared will be here soon. Leah, you have the next shift. Just check around here, I don't want you to miss the party too much. If you find anything, do not engage before calling us, okay."  
She nodded one more time and Sams eyes lost a bit of their anger, even if she knew that one wrong comment would have made him explode. Why was he being so caring towards the leech lover? He had never cared about the way they talked to her before, so why now.

* * *

"Happy birthday, Billy!" Bella yelled happily, hugging the older man.

"Thank you Bells. You have no idea of how much happy it makes me to see you here." Billy whispered in her ear.

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world." Bella released him and the two smiled at each other.

"You look beautiful, Bells." Billy stated and Bella laughed.

"You too, new hair tie?" she joked and all the people present laughed.

When Billy focused her attention back on the roasting meat, Bella sat on one of the chair predisposed on the grass and looked around.

Quil and Embry were trying to make a moping Jake laugh, Seth and Leah were talking with their mother and it looked like the older woman was reprimanding her daughter for something she had said. She ignored them and looked for the other wolf that was already there.

She spotted him immediately. The alpha. He radiated power even from where he was standing leaning on a tree a few metres away from them. Bella had noticed that he liked watching everything from afar. Almost as if he could control the situation better from there.

Taking all the courage she had in her, she started walking towards him, not caring about the boys that were watching her carefully.

* * *

Sam saw her approaching and couldn't stop himself from appreciating her new love for fashion. He had always been a fan of a good pair of legs. And hers looked particularly appealing thanks to the short dress. She must have felt his eyes on her, because she lowered her head when she reached him.

"Sam, I wanted to talk to you." She looked at his face briefly and then focused her attention back on the grass.

Sam looked at her curiously. "I thought you didn't want to talk to us." He reminded her of her previous words.

"What I'm about to say has nothing to do with what Jacob wants me to talk about."

And that caught his complete attention.

He waited for her to speak, enjoying the way she played with the hem of the dress, clearly embarrassed for what she was about to say. Her innocent gesture made her look more appealing to both Sam and the wolf.

"I'm sorry for attacking you that day, I was angry and said things that weren't true." She blurted out quickly. Sam knew she was referring to the day she had discovered their secret. He wanted to say that it was okay, but she hadn't finished.

"I also realised that I never thanked you for finding me that day. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't found me and taken me home. And I'm sorry that it took me so long to thank you."

Finding her courage Bella raised her head and their eyes met.

As soon as those brown eyes were on his, Sams world changed. Everything that was holding him on earth, his duty, the pack, gravity itself, vanished and was replaced by the stunning angel in front of him. His angel, his world. His imprint. Sam never imagined that he would have imprinted, but he had and she was standing in front of him like a vision. The most beautiful girl in the world and he had let his pack hurt her. The adoration for her was soon joined by pain. He had let his brothers treat her horribly and had never done anything to stop them.

She was the most precious thing in his life and she was suffering because of him.

He was aware that she was waiting for him to say something, but he couldn't find the words. Besides, if he told her that everything was fine, she would have left and he didn't want her to leave him. Ever.

However, she was starting to get uncomfortable under his stare and the wolf in him wanted to make her feel better.

"I'm happy I found you." He said in a soft tone, words never being more appropriate. She couldn't even imagine how lucky and blessed he had been to find her. If only he had looked into her eyes sooner, he would have saved her a lot of pain. However, he was going to make her feel better, he would make sure that she would never be sad again.

When she smiled softly at him, happy for what he had said, he almost purred. Purred? What the fuck? How had he passed from feared alpha to pussy little dog? How could looking into someone eyes completely change a person and his life?

However, one look at her smiling face and all the anger disappeared.

When she started walking away from him, he found his feet moving on their own, following her. It was as if his body knew that his place was at her side. She turned her head slightly and raised an eyebrow.

"Food is ready." He said and she nodded, knowing how much they loved their food.

When he finally moved his eyes away from hers to check on his pack, he saw Quil smiling happily at him. He raised his thumb in a congratulatory manner and Sam found himself smiling.

It hadn't even been five minutes since he imprinted and she was already making him smile.

* * *

Paul spotted her immediately. How could he not, she was fucking hot. When did she became that hot? When Jared elbowed him, knowing what he was thinking, he closed his mouth.

"Don't do anything stupid, Paul. She has been through enough." Jared warned him.

"I was just making sure that it was her, since she looks different from the Bella we know."

Jared raised his eyebrow, clearly seeing through his lie.

"Whatever Paul. Go talk to her now and remember to say what we have prepared."

Paul nodded and reached the girl in a few big steps. She had her back to him and he noticed that she was really tiny compared to him. Her head barely reached his shoulder. He admired her ass for a second, before a cough from Jared made him regain his focus.

"Bella." She shivered, recognising his voice, but still gave him her back.

"Bella, I want to apologise to you."

He heard her sigh, but, surprisingly, she turned, raising her head to look into his eyes.

The second he looked at her, really looked at her, all the anger inside of him faded. He had never felt more at peace in his entire life. When he saw Bellas eyes, he saw how his whole life was now all about her, keeping her happy and protected. No words could escape his mouth, because every neurone in his brain was synchronising on Bellas channel. His Bella.

His imprint.

Paul was looking at her the same way Sam had done not even few minutes prior. In a mix of shock and wonder, as if he was seeing her for the first time. Did she really look that different? She had just cut her hair and worn a dress, how much different could she be?

Bella raised an eyebrow, gluing her hand to her hips as she tried not to look too intimidated by his huge form.

"So?" she snapped, waving her hand in front of his face, which was still frozen in the same expression of amazement.

"Paul?"

He shivered when she said his name and Bella wondered worriedly if he was starting to get angry. What could he possibly be angry for? He had just arrived. Maybe he didn't want her there.

"Okay, I'll leave."

And with those parting words, Bella stomped away from the man, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. She didn't look back, didn't see how he was staring at her. It was only then that Paul let a small smile spread across his face.

"Bella Swan." He whispered so lowly that no one heard him. The name sounded foreign, frightening, but wonderful.

He recovered from his shock, when Jared slapped his arm. Paul growled at him, angry to have been disturbed from looking at his mate.

When he looked at his friend, Jared was smirking at him.

"You have no idea how much fun I'm going to have with you." Jared exclaimed with a devious smile on his face.

"After the shit that you gave me about being with Kim, I can't wait to see you act like a lovesick puppy around Bella."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Paul muttered, but that only made Jared laugh.

"Here, I saved you some food. I'll go talk with the others, don't do.."

When Jared turned towards his friend, Paul had already left with the plate he had prepared for him and was sitting a few chairs away on Bella's left. Jared laughed like a maniac when Paul took a bite from his burger without removing his eyes from Bella.

Oh, karma was such a bitch.

* * *

Jared reached his friends with a huge smile on his face.

"Guys, you may not believe what has just happened."

"Is this about someone imprinting on Bella?" Quil asked and Jared nodded with a confused expression.

"You saw him?" he asked confused. He remembered seeing Quil fighting with Jake for some sausages. How could he have seen them?

"Of course I did." Quil scoffed indignantly.

From behind them, someone groaned.

"Who the fuck imprinted on Bella?" Jacob roared in anger. How could someone have imprinted on her, they had all already met her.

Jared and Quil gulped, knowing that their next words would change the dynamic of the pack for good.

"Paul."  
"Sam."

Quil and Jared looked at each other confused. The others mirrored their expression.

Simultaneously, five heads turned towards the girl, who was eating her burger next to her dad, completely unaware of the two werewolves that were staring at her as if she was the most fascinating thing in the world.

The pack looked between Paul and Sam a couple of times. Sam was on her right and Paul on her left. They saw them look at the oblivious girl in the same way. Both with love, wonder and completely unaware about each other.

"Holy shit!" Embry broke the silence, saying aloud what everyone was thinking. Everyone was too shocked at the sight in front of them to say anything. Everyone except one sore werewolf, who was about to explode in anger.

 _"WHAT?!"_

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a review. If you have any question feel free to ask.**

 **I hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone!**

 **I'm sorry for the very late update, I've been working on mine original story... Anyway, I'm back and I have already few chapters done. I promise you I will finish this fanfic.**

 **Thank you to my wonderful Beta arienna89 for helping me.**

 **Please leave a review, I like knowing what you think.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4**

Sam Uley preferred to be in control. He liked control. He needed control. Indeed, on the rare occasion that he felt out of control, or overpowered in any way, he was known to lash out with devastating consequences. However, it only took one look into Bella Swan eyes to let all of his control shift away.

Everything about her captivated him, from her chocolate, doe eyes to her scent. Lilacs, soft rain and something sweet, uniquely Bella.

He had never smelled something so fresh and lovely and completely intoxicating. And Sam Uley disliked the sensation of intoxication. It stole control from him, and that was simply unacceptable for an alpha. He couldn't afford to have his mind focused on something that was not his pack. Yet since the imprinting every time he tried to think of something else beside the girl, she found a way to appear and plague his mind with her scent, her body, her smile.

The wolf inside of him urged to make her his.

Sam had never been happier to be with so many people around because he didn't know what he would have done to that girl. He wanted to claim her in every possible way, but that would have scared her and made her hate him, both of which were unacceptable.

One look into her eyes and he knew that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her in any way, including himself.

He was still transfixed by her sole presence when he heard Jacob shout from behind him.

* * *

" _What?_ "

Jacob shout caught everyone's attention. Everyones, except Pauls. He had yet to remove his eyes from the goddess sat a few chairs away from him.

Even while he ate, he still couldn't look away from her. How could one look into her eyes change someones life completely? Before that day, he had cursed the imprinting, hoping to never experience it. Now, he couldn't think of a bigger honour. Fate had given him the most beautiful, perfect girl as his mate and he would spend the rest of his life apologising for the way he had treated her.

In the few minutes after the imprinting, every single mean word that he had ever said to her, flashed through his mind, making him feel a pain in his chest, right were his heart was. The same heart that now belonged to the girl he had hurt.

Staring at her, everything that he had thought was ugly now looked perfect. Her skin, that he used to think as too pale, was actually ivory and his mouth watered at the thought of touching it, seeing it flush under his touch, his tongue and his teeth.

Her eyes were the most beautiful pools of chocolate that he had ever seen and he got hard at the memory of seeing them darken in anger while yelling at him. His mate was the most precious little thing when she was angry.

The wind moved her hair and he imagined his fingers running through her silky, short locks every morning while he waited for her to wake up or while he grabbed it when he pounded into her from behind.

Luckily, Sam's shout to Jacob stopped his mind from going there.

When he heard his name coming out Jared's mouth from where he stood with the boys, Paul sighed and got up, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they started making fun of him.

Jared had probably informed the other of the recent development in his life, so now Sam was going to give him the same speech he had given to Jared. 'Congratulations, but don't forget that you could still hurt her.' As if Paul wanted to hurt her more than he had already done.

However, when he looked at Sam, he almost shivered in fear. His alpha was glaring down at him with his most murderous expression.

"Paul." He growled, and Paul heard Jacob doing the same.

"Tell me that Jared is wrong and you have not just imprinted on Bella Swan."

Paul was confused, why did he care that he had imprinted on Bella?

"Yes, I have."

"That's not possible." Sam simply stated, still looking like he wanted to rip him apart.

Before he could let his anger take over and he defied his alpha, Jacob said something that caught his full attention.

"Neither of you are worthy to be with her."

What the fuck did he mean by that.

"Why did you say neither of you?" Paul asked, slowly, yet menacingly. The wolf didn't like any kind of threat towards his mate and their future together.

He looked at his alpha who was shaking so much that Paul was sure he would phase in the next few minutes.

"Paul." Jared took a careful step towards him, almost as if he was scared of his reaction for what he was about to say.

"Sam has imprinted on Bella too."

Pauls world fell apart at those words. Sam had imprinted on Bella. His Bella. His soulmate. Paul growled, ready to fight his alpha if he posed a threat to his future with Bella.

"Jared. Go call Billy and Quil Sr. Tell them to meet us in the woods." Jared quickly left, happy to leave the scene. "Paul and Jacob, follow."

He didn't even have to use his alpha voice. Paul followed him towards the deep of the woods. The only thing that kept him from phasing, were the thoughts of Bella. Even when he couldn't see her, she still managed to calm him down.

* * *

When Billy and Quill Sr. reached them, the situation was tense. Paul and Sam were glaring at each other and Jacob was glaring at the both of them.

"What is going on here?" Billy demanded.

"It seems that both Paul and I have imprinted on the same girl." Sam explained, facing the two elders.

"Now?" Billy asked and they nodded.

"But the only girl here beside Leah is… Bella." Billy's eyes widened at the realisation.

"How is that possible? I thought they already knew the girl." Quil Sr. pointed out another important detail, one that Jacob was more than happy to explain.

"Paul has ignored Bella from the moment he met her, when he was not verbally abusing her." Jake snarled and Paul looked down, full of embarrassment and pain. Jacob continued. "While Sam here, never give a crap about her." Now it was Sam's turn to lower his head.

Jacob was right, he had never given much thought to her. If he had, he might have found out sooner how important the girl was to him.

"What are you doing here, son? Have you imprinted on Bella too?" Billy asked hopefully. Everyone knew about his love for the girl.

"No." Jacob admitted.

"Then your presence here is not required I'm afraid." Quil Sr. stated, dismissing the boy.

"I'm the one who was supposed to imprint on her. They are not worthy of her!" Jacob yelled causing both Sam and Paul growl threateningly.

"She's mine!" Sam growled at the same time Paul said "Stay away from her!"

"It looks like they truly have imprinted on her." Billy exclaimed, surprised by the possessive tone to their voices.

"How is the fact that both Sam and I have imprinted on the same person not bothering you?" Paul asked.

"It's not uncommon for wolves to share their female." Billy explained.

"We're not wolves, we only turn into them!" Paul pointed out.

"I don't share!"

The older men sighed.

"Tell me honestly, how are your wolves reacting to this?" Quil Sr. asked.

"My wolf it's actually calm, it almost seems happy." Sam admitted after a couple of seconds.

"Mine too." Paul confessed. "It's actually happy that there will always be someone to protect her when I can't."

"See?" Billy exclaimed. "The wolves are okay with that! You only need the human part of yourselves to accept it too."

"What?" Jacob yelled indignantly.

"Son, the link between an imprint and his mate, or in this case, mates, is sacred. No one can intrude."

Jacob punched a tree and left in the opposite direction to the party, needing time to cool off before he could do something that he might regret later.

Paul and Sam were looking at each other with a mixture of anger, fear and sadness in their eyes. Neither of them knew what to do.

"Boys." The two shape shifters moved their attention to the elders.

"Wherever you decide to do, if it is to share her or for one of you to step down and only be her friend, you need to remember that you both need her in your lives as much as she needs you. But no matter what you decide, keep in mind that she's still suffering from your behavior. Do not get her involved unless you know what to do. The last thing she needs is having two wolves fighting each other because of her."

Sam and Paul looked at the disappearing form of Billy, thinking carefully about his words.

He was right, they couldn't put Bella in that position. She had already being through a lot, she didn't need that shit too. Not yet, at least.

When Quil Sr. left too, following Billy's path, Paul and Sam remained.

"What are we going to do now?" Sam asked, trying to be civil even if the only thing he wanted to do was kill Paul and destroy any competition.

"I don't share."

Sam almost laughed at his betas attempt to be threatening. He was still the alpha and he could order him to back off, even if that would have hurt him. However, in that moment he didn't care. His thoughts were on Bella and being with her.

Almost as if he could read his mind, Paul smirked.

"We saw it with Quil, Sammy." Paul mocked him. "The imprint comes before the pack, so any order that involves her won't work on me."

Paul took few steps to him. They both were the same high so they could look perfectly into each other eyes.

"When it comes of Bella, we're equals."

Sam growled at the defiant tone, not liking at all hearing one of his betas being insolent at him. However, he knew Paul was right. He couldn't order him to do anything when it came to Bella

"So what now?" he asked again, hoping for a more useful reply.

Paul didn't have an answer. He had no idea how handle the situation. None of them had ever imagined that kind of scenario. Imprinting was supposed to be rare yet the two most stubborn and possessive shape shifters had imprinted on the same girl.

"I don't know, she still hates us and wants to have nothing to do with either of us." Paul sighed.

"Then how about you and I work together on this one?" Sam proposed. Paul raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain.

"We both convince her that she is wanted here. Make her forgive us. Once we are friends, we'll decide what to do with the whole sharing our mate thing."

"So, you want us to work together to convince her to give the pack another chance and then let the best man win?" Paul repeated and Sam nodded.

"Alright." Paul agreed to his plan and the two smirked at each other.

"Let's go now. I feel like I'm going to go crazy if I don't see her now." Sam admitted and Paul nodded.

"I know the feeling, Boss. I feel like I need her more than I need food."

They both laughed at the truth behind those words and started walking to the birthday party where their Bella was.

* * *

As soon as Big Quil and Billy followed the boys into the woods, Bella had been introduced to Kim, a seventeen years old native, who she discovered was Jared girlfriend.

She was still talking to Kim, when someone pulled the hem of her dress. Looking down, she saw a little girl with two big brown eyes looking up at her with the most adorable smile she had ever seen.

"Who' yow?" she asked and Bella melted at her cute voice.

"I'm Bella. And who are you?" she asked sweetly.

"I' Claiw." She said happily. "Yow weally pwetty."

Bella bent down so that she was eye level with her and smiled softly.

"Thank you, Claire, but you're much prettier."

Claire giggled and blushed a little, before taking Bella's hand in her tiny one.

"Do yow wan play with me?" She asked with those two big, doe eyes and Bella wondered if it was possible for anyone to say no to her. When she nodded, Claire smiled brightly and quickly led her to the house, where she kept all of her dolls.

"Can I come play too?" Quil asked when they walked past him and the others.

"No." Claire said firm and Quil pouted. "I wan play wit pwetty gil."

The boys laughed at Quil's rejection. Making fun of him for having been turned down by a little girl. Even Bella cracked a smile at his miserable expression, silently wandering why a boy like him wanted to play dolls with a little kid.

Bella and Claire played with the dolls for a while before two huge boys literally slammed into the room.

* * *

When Sam and Paul reached the others, they quickly tried to spot Bella, worrying when they didn't see her.

"She's inside." Jared explained, finally giving Kim the opportunity to breath after a long make out session. The boy knew about their need to see their imprint with their own eyes. After he had imprinted on Kim, he wanted to see her all the time, afraid that he could lose her if he looked away even for a second.

"What is she doing inside?" Sam asked with his usual stoic voice, but Jared and Quil could read passed it since they had already experienced what he was being through.

"She's playing with Claire." Quil explained, letting out a sigh.

"Why are you not with them?"

Everyone, except Quil, laughed aloud at Paul's question.

"She said she wanted to play only with the pretty girl." Seth explained, earning a glare from Quil.

Paul laughed at that, and even Sam cracked a smile. They didn't ask anything more, before lashing towards the inside of the house.

The boys, plus Kim, watched them with an amused expression. Noticing Kim confusion, Jared explained to his girl that both of them had imprinted on Bella. Saying that Kim was surprised was an understatement. She had heard about Bella, Jared had told her everything about the girl after she had asked one night why Jacob looked so depressed.

After hearing what they had done to her, she had reprimanded him for his behavior. Kim already liked Bella, she could see that she was a strong girl and she knew that she wouldn't have let Sam or Paul to walk all over her.

* * *

Bella was playing with Claire on the floor when Sam and Paul showed up. She felt their eyes on her. Seeing her playing with the kid seemed to make them smile. A genuine smile that creeped her out.

They stood there by the door, watching her play with Claire who was too focused on her dolls to notice the two muscular men in the room. Bella tried to ignore them, but they seemed to dominate the entire space. She could feel their eyes on her and the only time she dared to look up at them, they were watching her almost lovingly.

"Uncle Sam! Uncle Pauly!" Claire yelled happily, when she finally spotted them. She quickly stood up, dolls forgotten, and ran towards the older man who scooped her up in his arm with a smile on his face.

Apparently, Claire had everyone around her tiny fingers, even the big, bad alpha.

Bella was sure that she had never seen Sam smile, well, she had never seen any emotion on his face besides anger when he reproached one of the boys for pushing too far. She had to admit that he was beautiful when he smiled.

When she turned to look at Paul, he was staring at her the same way he had earlier, when he had tried to talk to her.

She shivered, feeling nervous under his gaze and Paul, noticing that he was making her feel uncomfortable, felt the urge to make her feel better.

"Billy is about to open his presents." He exclaimed and almost purred when her chocolate eyes met his. He swore that he could see his future in them. A future were he would come home from work and find her playing with their own kids.

He was pulled out from his fantasy when Bella turned around to take something from her bag on the couch. When she bent a little, he noticed with happiness that her dress had railed up and was showing him more of her thighs. Thighs that he wanted wrapped around him as soon as possible. Damn he was getting hard. he had to look away before his wolf did something stupid.

Paul quickly turned his head to the side and blushed when he saw little Claire glaring at him. How could a 3 year old know what he had been thinking? And why was she only glaring at him when Sam was almost drooling while looking at Bella's perfect ass?

As soon Bella was facing them again, Claire climbed off Sam and reached the girl, offering her tiny hand that Bella quickly took with a beautiful smile.

"Let's go sweetie." Bella passed the two giants at the door and joined the other guests in the back yard where everyone was waiting for them. She was surprised to see that Jacob was nowhere in sight.

* * *

Billy was opening his gifts with the same excitement of a five year old kid. When it was Bella's turn, she handed him the envelope with her present inside with a nervous smile. She really hoped he would like it.

"Bella." Billy froze when he saw the tickets for the basketball finale that would be held in Seattle in three weeks. "Are those what I think they are?"

"Phil knows the coach of one of the teams so it was easy for him to procure them for me. I think they are for the front seats." Bella explained quickly.

With a surprising speed for a man in his condition, Billy reached Bella and pulled her down for a bow-crushing hug.

"Thank you!" he practically yelled. "This is the best gift ever."

Bella laughed at his excitement, while the others muttered their disappointment at his statement. However, Bella knew that they were just joking. Bella watched her dad carefully, hoping that he wasn't offended that she had asked Phil's help. She noticed with delight that he was giving her a small smile and she smiled back, secretly hoping that Billy would have given one of the tickets to Charlie.

"That was really nice of you."

Someone whispered in her ear from behind and she almost jumped in surprise. She turned her head and saw Sam staring down at her with amusement.

She glared at him and Sam compared her to an angry kitten. An angry, sexy kitten.

"I'm sure he'll take Charlie with him." Sam added.

"I hope so. They both need some time off." Sam nodded in agreement still staring directly into her eyes and Bella thought that he could see right through them.

"Bella" he said her name and Bella shivered at the sensual way he had said it. Bella had never reacted that way around him, but since she had apologized, every time she saw him, she felt something in her stomach move.

"I want you to know that we are all sorry for the way we treated you. We want you to know that you are always welcome here."

Bella heard what he had said, but she was too lost in his black eyes to understand fully his words. For that reason she nodded, not realizing the message she was giving him.

In fact he smiled "Does this mean that you'll give us another chance?" he asked hopefully.

Sam was not someone who begged, but for her, he would have lowered himself on his knees every day if it was necessary.

Bella blinked her eyes, the neurons in her head finally working again and shocked her head.

"No." she answered. "I've given a lot of second chances and each time I end up suffering. I won't do it again."

She held her ground and before he could say something else, she walked away from him and the rest of the pack, ignoring the sad glances sent in her way.

Bella fumed with anger. How dared they act all sad as if she was the bad guy of the situation? They treat her like dirt and then ask her to forgive and forget? Well, sorry, but no. She was done with them.

She kissed Billy goodbye and picked Claire up in her arms to give her a hug. Charlie didn't try to stop her, but lent her the car keys, giving her a sad smile.

Saying goodbye one last time, she left, promising herself to never come back again.

"Are we just going to let her walk away?" Paul asked, rushing towards his alpha.

Sam sighed. "What do you want me to do, Paul? Put her over my shoulder and lock her away where she can't leave us?"

"Yes." Paul's wolf surfaced along with his possessiveness over his mate.

Sam rolled his eyes and finally shifted his eyes to his beta, when Bella's car was no longer in sight.

"We can't do that. Her dad is here and we might heal fast, but that doesn't mean bullets won't hurt."

"Wait." Embry intromitted in the conversation. "You were seriously considering the idea of kidnapping her?" he asked, hoping that he had misunderstood the alpha's words.

"Of course the idea of kidnapping her crossed my mind." Sam stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

It took every ounce of strength he had to stop his wolf from chasing his mate and dragging her to his house where she would spend the rest of her life with him.

"But that's the wolf thinking, not the man." Sam explained, especially to Paul who didn't look convinced.

"Maybe we should listen to the wolf." Paul muttered.

"Don't tempt me." Sam replied, closing his eyes trying to suppress the pain caused by seeing their mate walking away from them.

"Seriously, boss. What's the plan?" Paul questioned him. The boy looked in as much pain as he was.

"First of all, don't call me boss." Sam ordered and Paul simply smirked. "And second, she said she didn't want to come here. That doesn't mean we can't go to her."

"I don't think she'll be happy to see you." Embry pointed out and raised his hands in a surrendering manner when Sam and Paul glared at him. "Just saying."

"The idiot's right." Paul admitted, but still glared down at Embry who ran away from the two crazy men.

"We won't give her a choice. Wherever she wants to be our friends or mates is up to her. But we need her in our lives as much as she needs us. We just have to make her realized that."

* * *

 **Hope you've like it. Thanks for reading.**

 **Please review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone! The new chapter is here.**

 **As always I wanted to thank** **arienna89 for her help. **

**Let me know what you think. If you have any questions write them in the review and I'll answer to them in the next update.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 5**

 _Bella_

That was the first word that came up in Paul's mind when he woke the next morning. For the entire night he had dreamt about the fair skinned girl, whose beauty entranced him like no other before. He had dreamt about her chocolate pools, her curly short hair, but most of all he had dreamt about her tight, little body.

His mate was sure a tiny thing, but she had curves in all the right places. Just like every Quileute, he had been breastfed, and he had never thought that he would have done it again, yet he had dreamt about sucking Bella's perfect tits many times during the night, before waking up with a painful hard on.

He had woken up for that reason at least four time during the entire night. He went to sleep, dreamed about doing something to a specific part of Bella's body and then woke up to jerk off. Paul was sure that he had jerked off more times in the last hours, than he had done in his entire life.

It amazed him how much the imprint could influence someone's life.

If a few days prior, someone had told Paul that one day he would have imprinted on Bella Swan, he would have laughed at his face. Up until the previous morning, he had never imagined he would have imprinted at all, but he had. He had imprinted on the girl he had been bullying in the past months.

But that wasn't the worst. No, his alpha had imprinted on the same girl. So now he had to work with his soulmate's other mate to convince the girl he couldn't stop thinking about that she was meant to be with them, without actually telling her that.

"Paul!"

Sam knocked on his door and he crawled out of bed, surprised that his alpha had actually knocked for once.

When he opened the door Paul smirked at Sam's tired face, knowing that he had spent the night like him, thinking about Bella under cold showers.

Paul looked at his alpha suspiciously. Then he noticed what was wrong. Besides his cut-offs, he was wearing a shirt. And Sam rarely wore a shirt.

"You couldn't wear something, could you?" Sam asked annoyed noticing Paul's lack of clothes. Paul simply smirked. "I'm so comfortable about my body, that sometimes I forget that I'm not wearing clothes. The real question is why are you wearing a shirt?" Sam rolled his eyes.

"Go get dressed. If you're not ready in five I'll leave you here." Sam ordered him. "And wear a shirt. We're going to Forks."

Paul raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. Once more Sam found himself rolling his eyes. Of all the members of the pack with whom he could have shared an imprint, it had to be Paul. His most defiant beta, after Jacob of course.

Since they were wasting precious time, time that he could spend with his beautiful little mate, Sam quickly told the idiot that they were going to talk to Bella. As soon as he said Bella's name, Paul run to his room and wore the first thing he found in the wardrobe.

"Let's go see our Bella." He reappeared at the door before the five minutes ended.

Surprisingly, none of the two felt jealousy at that statement. They weren't happy, but they were starting to tolerate the idea that Bella belonged to both of them.

Paul was driving his black Camaro when he glanced quickly at the man sat next to him. Sam looked like shit, even worse than he did, and Paul smirked, deciding that making fun of his alpha couldn't be bad.

"So… how many times?" he asked with a big grin.

Sam narrowed his eyes at him.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Sam asked confused.

"I'll rephrase. How many showers did you take last night?"

Sam growled and Paul laughed. Sometimes Sam wondered how Jared could spend so much time with him without wanting to hit him with a big truck, repeatedly.

However, Paul had hit a nerve. Sam was a wreck. He had slept for barely a couple hours, before realizing that he couldn't sleep more with Bella constantly on his mind.

"Shut up."

Paul laughed louder.

"C'mon man, if I'm going to be miserable, let's be miserable together."

Sam ignored him and thought about something else. Of course, his mind immediately ran to Bella. Isabella. Even her name aroused him. He wanted to hate her for making him lose his control, but he just couldn't. His mate was too perfect to be hated. Too good. Too innocent. And way too desirable for her own good.

Sam remembered that the same thing had happened to Jared when he had imprinted. For days no one wanted to patrol with him since all he could think about was sex and Kim. It took him at least five days before those thoughts lessened. He still had them, from time to time, but at least they were not a constant any longer.

"Fine, ignore me." Paul spoke again. "Just answer one question. Why are we going to Bella?" "Charlie has gone fishing and I want to check on her."

"She won't like that."

"I don't care." Sam growled. "I need to see her. The wolf needs to see her."

Paul understood him perfectly. The wolf inside of him had been fretting to see her again. It had passed barely one day and he couldn't stand another minute without seeing her face. Finally Paul could understand the pain Quil had felt when he had been forced to stay away from little Claire.

Paul only hoped that Bella would forgive them soon, because he couldn't spend the rest of his life pining after her with his hand as his best friend.

When he parked outside the Swan house, both Sam and Paul practically jumped out the car. He was about to knock when Sam stopped him.

"She's still sleeping."

Paul focused on his ears and heard Bella softly snoring. Her heartbeat was slower and constant which confirmed Sam's statement.

"What do we do now?" Paul asked.

Sam looked around, one hand in his short hair and in that moment Paul realized that the alpha didn't know what to do. He was lost just like him.

Apparently dealing with an imprint who wants nothing to do with you and who is also the imprint of one of your betas was not something you learn at the alpha seminary.

"Let's get in." suddenly Sam exclaimed.

"I don't think she would like that." Paul replied, not sure whether to obey or not.

"She'll forgive us if we make her breakfast." Sam simply said and opened the door, using the spare key under the plant. What a predictable place.

Sam was the first to get in and as soon as he walked into the living room, his wolf immediately calmed down, inhaling the sweet scent of his little mate.

Sam had always been in control of his wolf, but since he had seen Bella and recognized her as his mate, the wolf had started to get agitated every time she was not in his direct line of sight. She was his reason for living and his wolf needed to know that she was always safe.

He mentally thanked Paul's presence, knowing that if he had been there on his own, nothing would have stopped his wolf from taking over and slamming into the girls room. His wolf had wanted to claim her from the first moment. Dreaming of having sex with her in every place and position had only made it more difficult to control himself.

He was not like the others. Since he had been the first, no one was there to help him so he had to rely on the wolf instinct more than the others had done. For that reason, it was harder for him to ignore his animal instincts, even if his human side was telling him that they should leave before making things worse.

Trying to distract himself, he started cooking some eggs and bacon that he found in the fridge. He almost burned the eggs when he heard tiny feet walking down the stairs.

* * *

The sound of the front door opening and closing jarred Bella out of her sleep. She'd spent most of the night tossing and turning due to the nightmares caused by a red haired vampire.

When she heard someone's footsteps, she immediately sat on the bed and panicked. On Sunday Charlie left the house early to go fishing with Billy. So, who the hell was downstairs?

For a second Bella thought that Victoria had come to finish her work, but then she realized that if Victoria had come to kill her, she wouldn't have used the door.

Taking out all of her courage, she left her room, tiptoeing downstairs, trying to make the least sound possible. However, she had forgotten one simple detail, her clumsiness. In fact, while trying to keep her messy hair away from her face, she missed a step and tripped over. She prepared herself from the impact, but it never came.

Someone had saved her from a painful fall. Someone with very warm hands that were currently wrapped around her.

Opening her eyes, she gasped aloud when her eyes met brown ones. Paul.

Paul was there. In her house at half past seven on a Sunday morning. "Paul."

"Hi, Bella." He replied out of breath. He still had his arms around her and she was surprised to discover that something inside her didn't want them to release her.

They stared into each other's eyes for what felt like eternity, when someone else stepped into the room and growled at the sight in front of him.

Bella quickly pushed Paul away, even though she was sure he had let her, and turned towards the second intruder.

Sam stared at her with hunger. His eyes took in everything there was to see, and there was a lot. Neither Paul or Sam had ever seen her show that much skin, and they slowly admired every single detail of her delectable body, trying to commit the image to memory for their next shower. Which was going to happen soon, considering the hardness in their pants.

Bella was wearing very short shorts that showed legs that they both wanted to have wrapped around them, and a blue tank top, which made them discover that her tits were not as small as they thought. Paul almost salivated at the sight of her perfectly rounded breasts, quickly remembering one of his previous dreams.

Bella's eyes were still on Sam and, for a moment, she swore that they had glowed yellow. When they roamed over her body, Bella looked down and realized the picture she was making: her hair were a complete mess, making her look like a wild animal, and her breasts were all but falling out her thin tank top that she had worn with no bra. She turned towards Paul and his eyes seemed to bore into hers. Her stomach tightened at the intensity of his stare.

Bella had never been looked at that way before. Not even Edward had ever stared at her like that. But most of all, Edward had never made her feel sexually aware like both shifters were doing with just a look.

Furious at her body for reacting that way, she stepped a few feet away from Paul so she could glare at both of them at the same time without having to turn her head.

What were they doing in her house at half past seven on a Sunday morning?

"What are you doing in my house?" she demanded, trying to look menacing, but it only made them smirk at her in amusement.

"We wanted to check on you." Sam simply said, before walking towards the kitchen. Finally, the smell of bacon hit her nose.

"Are you making breakfast?" she asked in a whisper. She had never met two more confusing men.

"Yep." Paul smirked at her and Bella almost slapped him, again.

"So you two entered my house like two burglars, while I was sleeping and decided to cook breakfast?" she yelled indignantly. The nerve of them. How dare they ignore her request to stay away from her, when they had done nothing but pushing her away the past months?

"Technically, not like burglars. We used the spare key." Paul explained still with his annoying smirk on. "By the way, you should be more careful, I won't always be there to catch you when you fall."

At that, Bella lost herself.

"You shouldn't be here at all!" she shouted.

Not liking the way his mate was treating him, Paul's wolf took over. He walked towards her with an angry expression.

"Listen girl, I just saved you from a bad fall and Sam is making you breakfast. You should be more grateful."

If he wasn't a werewolf with tough skin, Bella would have punched him.

"I didn't ask you to do any of these things!"

"Well, it's not my fault if you always need to be looked after!" Paul knew that he was letting his anger take over and that he should calm himself down before he said something that he would regret. However, the damage had already been done.

"If I'm nothing but a nuisance for you, as you have made me understand perfectly a lot of times, than stop looking after me! I never asked any of you to do that. So let's do everyone a favor and leave me the hell alone!"

Bella surpassed him and reached Sam into the kitchen, while standing where she could see them both. They both looked like they were in pain, as if her words had actually hurt them. Bella almost laughed at that. She knew that deep down they wanted Victoria to kill her, so they would have had one less problem.

"Get out." She said in a low voice, trying to appear strong.

When Sam tried to say something to her, she raised her hand and stopped him. "GET OUT!"

Sam's heart broke at her words, but as her imprint, he wanted to obey every single one of her requests. And in that moment she wanted them to leave.

He sent her a pained smile when he walked past her, but she simply turned her head to the side.

Grabbing Paul by the arm, he led him outside.

They both walked away and Bella almost laughed at the sight of them. They looked like reprimanded puppies with their tails between their legs.

Bella knew that she had every right to kick them out, but then why did it hurt her to watch them leave? Why did she want to run out and make them come back?

She had been stupid to say that she didn't need them, but Paul's words made her angry. He had treated her like an annoyed baby sitter would treat a child she looked after only for the money. That was what she was for them. An inconvenience, a nuisance, someone they were forced to watch over.

She suppressed the image of Sam's hurt face when she had yelled them to leave, she probably had imagined it anyway.

When her stomach growled, Bella sighed and reluctantly looked at the food Sam had cooked. Two eggs with few rashers of bacon and it smelled amazing. She took one of them and bit it. Bella moaned at how good it was. Crisp and tasty at the same time. She devoured the remain of Sam's food and felt even guiltier for kicking them out.

After a little fight with her inner voice, Bella decided that she had done the right thing and she should not feel guilty about it. After all she had told them multiple times that she wanted to be left alone. They hadn't listened to her, so she was within her rights to be angry at them.

Bella only hoped that from that moment, they would have respected her decision and left her alone.

It only lasted a flash, but suddenly Bella felt her chest flair in pain, right were her heart was. She massaged it for a while, wondering what it was, but quickly got over it, blaming the pain on the stress.

Remembering that the following day school reopened, Bella sighed. She wasn't particularly anxious to see her school friends, but she knew that she had to restart a relationship with them, since she couldn't spend the rest of the year alone. They all had always been very nice and friendly with her. She liked them, she just wasn't a very sociable person.

Pulling her hair away from her face, she decided to call her mother. After their weeks together, she had decided that she wanted to have a better relationship with her mom, so she had promised her to call her almost every day.

The two talked for a while and Renee even recommended what she should wear the following day. Even if it was her mother who did most of the talking, sometimes Bella laughed at her mother's nonsense and quickly every thought about shape shifting men left her mind.

For the first time after a while, Bella finally felt again like a normal girl.

* * *

"Damn!" Paul yelled, punching a tree. He had let the anger prevail and now the most precious thing in his life didn't want to have anything to do with him.

"Calm down, someone could see or hear you. We're not far away from the house." Sam said in a stoic tone. However, Paul knew that he was suffering too from his imprints words.

"I'm sorry, Sam." Paul lowered his head in shame. Since he had imprinted he had felt a closer connection towards his alpha. Sometimes he still had the desire to rip his throat out, but he knew that if he hurt him, he would have hurt Bella too. Also he was sure that was the same reason why the alpha hadn't killed him already.

Sam sighed and closed his eyes for a second.

"You shouldn't have let the anger control you. You know that you get mean when you're angry." Sam reprimanded him. "However… It's my fault too." Paul raised his head in shock at Sam's admission.

"It was wrong to enter her house while she slept. It was too soon." Sam finished.

"My head is a mess, Sam." Paul confessed. "I need to stay with her, but when I'm in her presence I panic and say the wrong thing."

Sam chuckled, realizing that for once he wasn't the only one dealing with a crappy situation. They were in this together.

"She's always there, isn't she?" Sam pointed towards his head and Paul nodded.

"You know." Paul started, "I think Quil is lucky. Having a toddler as an imprint is not a bad thing. He can be with her whenever he wants, can protect her against anything, but most of all he doesn't have to deal with the blue balls every time he thinks about her since he only sees her as a little sister."

Sam smiled at Paul's view on the most messed up case of imprint that they have ever heard of. Well, after theirs of course. I mean, who wanted to share his soulmate to another man?

"She'll come around." Sam reassured him.

She had to come around. Sam thought. Not only for his blue balls. He would gladly spend the rest of his life like a monk if that meant having Bella in his life. Even as a friend. At the moment he didn't care, he only wanted to be with her.

"Jacob will be here shortly. It's his turn to patrol and we know he'll come here as soon as he is all furry."

Paul growled, hearing Jacob's name.

"Relax. I've ordered him not to approach her if she's not the one asking." Paul smirked and Sam copied him.

"You know that's the smartest thing that you have ever done as an alpha."

Before Sam could punch him, Paul laughed and phased, running away from the older man.

Sighing at his betas childish behavior, Sam phased. However, before he left, he got closer to the house. From behind a tree, he could see Bella through the kitchen window.

She was eating the bacon he had been cooking and knowing that he had been the one to provide her food, made him and the wolf proud. At least they did one thing good.

One day he would eat breakfast next to her with a couple of cubs running around them. Smiling softly at the image, Sam run away towards his house to fix a certain problem.

* * *

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